Pros Are Now Decking the Halls

But they may have hired a pro to handle the decorating jobs, especially the one involving lights, ladders and a long way to the ground.

"When they realize the need to hang Christmas lights -- and they don't want to do it -- they know who to call," says Aaron Chesonis. "A lot of it is just practice. There's always a learning experience involved."

"We decided we are having a Christmas party on Saturday and couldn't find time to finish up," said Apex homeowner Dawn Wagner. "We're both afraid of heights."

Chesonis agrees. "I avoid being up on something too steep if I can."

"There are things we do a lot differently that most homeowners wouldn't think to do. Hiding cords and making it look as if we haven't actually been there. The lights are there but we don't want anyone to see anything but the lights and the decoration.

"The only limiting factors are your imagination as far as what you want to do and where you want to use it.

And Chesonis and his crew have their standards. "We try to keep things tasteful; we don't want gaudy things -- a lot of what we call Griswald Christmas houses."

"It's always pretty neat to look up at a house that's decorated real nicely and say, 'I was a part of that, I helped make that nice.'"